Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
“The Live Anthology”
Reprise Records

Despite a Byrds-like jangle, there was a certain temptation to lump Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in with their punk and new wave contemporaries during the band’s early days. It was a comparison due likely for Petty’s passion and streak of well-executed rock and roll swindles more so than any real connection to how punk was defined at the time. The Heartbreakers didn’t have The Clash’s politics or a Sex Pistols sneer. They didn’t play as fast as The Ramones and had only a touch of the oblique hipness afforded the other NYC bands. And they certainly didn’t put on a live show like Iggy Pop.

The Live Anthology archives what nearly everyone who has seen Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers over their 30-plus year run already knew: the band is remarkably consistent in concert. Not a ton of stage banter (much of which is repeated anyhow) and even fewer wild-man theatrics. All they have is their songs, which are among the best in the rock ‘n’ roll canon. You like “Runnin’ Down a Dream?” Well, then you’ll like this version too. Aside from typical live punctuation, like a slower version of “Learning to Fly” and a bit of Ray Charles’ “Hit the Road, Jack” mixed in with “Breakdown”, there isn’t a ton of deviation from the studio material. Depending on who you ask, it’s either a boring approach or refreshingly no-bullshit. An excellent listen, it is. But Live at Leeds, it ain’t.

What makes Live Anthology special is its covers—some are Heartbreaker staples that give a representative sense of the band’s live set, and some that were only ever played once or twice. Them’s “Mystic Eyes” is here, which isn’t surprising considering its setlist frequency. So is Thunderclap Newman’s “Something in the Air,” which used to be the last song on their greatest hits collection before it was re-released.  And even though their take on The Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” at The Fillmore in San Francisco falls into the “Ya had to be there” category, it seems more worthwhile (in theory) due to the venue’s relationship with not only the Dead, but rock history.

Considering the quality of the material and roughly $20 price tag (what else would you expect from a guy who wanted to call an album Eight Ninety-Eight?), picking Live Anthology up is a no-brainer. There might be better places to start a Petty collection, but none of them have the juice of a packed house and the first three chords of “American Girl.”

Baby, don’t it feel like heaven right now?

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